Reports: Out Louisiana Man Shot to Death in Suspected Hate Crime

National LGBTQ equality advocacy organization the Human Rights Campaign posted about the slaying of an out African-American man in Louisiana, saying that the shooting death of 29-year-old McKinsley LaKeith Lincoln is suspected of being a hate crime.

The HRC reports said that Lincoln's family became concerned and reported him as missing. Police found his body, but did not inform the family, who learned of Lincoln's death from the news.

The National Black Justice Coalition is now working with the Lincoln family to get answers. Other media reports say that the family has received little information from local police.

McKinsley's mother, Pamela told the media that her son had been "the target of harassment and discrimination," reports said.

David John, the head of the National Black Justice Coalition, was quoted in an NBJC release as saying:

"This tragic incident should be a reminder that hate crimes against Black LGBTQ and same gender loving people happen too frequently—often without the national public outcry that our heterosexual brothers and sisters receive."

The HRC's Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative, Tori Cooper, said:

"Time and time again, we have seen Black people, LGBTQ people, and especially Black LGBTQ people violently killed for living their truth.

"The Human Rights Campaign is standing with Lincoln's family and friends in mourning today, and joins advocates and the National Black Justice Coalition in demanding a thorough investigation in this case, and into why Lincoln's family was not informed of their loved one's death."

Noted the Human Rights Campaign:

There are currently very few explicit federal legal protections for LGBTQ people. At the state level, LGBTQ people in Louisiana are not explicitly protected in employment, housing or in public spaces. Sexual orientation is covered under the state's hate crimes legislation, but not gender identity. Nationally, despite some marginal gains in state and local policies that support and affirm LGBTQ people, recent years have been marked by anti-LGBTQ attacks at all levels of government.

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Assistant Arts Editor. He also reviews theater for WBUR. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.